KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president has defended agreeing to hold a local election in the country’s rebel-held east and vowed the vote will be free and fair.

Ukraine, Russia and mediators Germany and France signed an accord on Tuesday with Russia-backed separatists. A five-year conflict between the separatists and Ukrainian troops in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 13,000 people.

Some in Ukraine saw the agreement as a capitulation to Russia. Hundreds of people rallied outside Zelenskiy’s office in protest.

Zelenskiy said in a televised address on Thursday that the local election in the east would not be held “under the barrel of machine guns.”

He promised to ensure the vote follows Ukrainian laws and includes candidates from Ukrainian political parties.